Breaking News

Opinion

City will need new ways to pay for demolitions

In Our Opinion

Jamestown is on track to spend all of the American Rescue Plan Act funding it allocated for housing demolitions by the end of the year. That means the city will meet the federal deadline for the use of that pot of money - though that should be the least of the city’s concerns, in our opinion, when it comes to housing demolitions. The city usually budgets between $100,000 and $130,000 for emergency demolitions - or enough for between three to four demolitions. City officials also include funding for housing demolitions in the annual Community Development Block Grant program. In ...

CLP study has opportunity to influence lake actions quickly

In Our Opinion

The announcement of a $42,000 DEC grant to the Chautauqua Lake Partnership was easy to miss earlier this year, coming as it did only a couple of days before a judge announced Freshwater Wetland Act regulations the CLP and Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association had been fighting in state Supreme Court had been annulled. But the grant, which is paying for a study by North Carolina State University researchers that has now begun, could end up having as big an impact on the lake as the temporary nullification of the Part 664 regulations. Part of the study assesses the three ...

Eighth, Fulton street residents show how to be neighbors

In Our Opinion

We noted last week that it is up to city residents - not city government - to rebuild the cohesive nature of Jamestown’s neighborhoods. A couple of days later, residents of Eighth and Fulton streets proved our point by becoming the first neighborhood to take the city and the Jamestown Police Department up on the offer to reinvigorate neighborhood watch groups in the city. The neighbors - many of whom have become familiar names through their advocacy over the course of the past couple of years at City Council meetings - are mobilizing in an attempt to help improve the conditions in ...

Budget is flawed, but persistent advocacy paid off

Local Commentaries

The state budget has finally passed, long after it should have. Let us be clear from the start: This is not a budget worthy of celebration. It spends too much. It came too late. It carries with it the marks of a state government that too often confuses activity with achievement and spending with leadership. For families, farmers, seniors, small businesses and school districts across Western New York, this budget does not fully answer the most important question before us: How do we make New York a more affordable place to live, raise a family, and do business? And yet, even in an ...

The beast finally settles in

Local Commentaries

Last July I wrote about Finian, our Maine Coon cat, and his stubborn need to be outside. For some reason he is well-behaved at the front door – as long as visitors don’t stand chatting with the storm door open. I mean, give the furry kid a break. A 10-minute open door is temptation even a well-tamed feline couldn’t resist. But who am I kidding? A well-tamed cat? There is no such animal. Dear Richard and I are the only ones who are trained in this relationship. We have learned to work around Finian’s strict schedule. His day directing us begins early. If Finian decides ...

County isn’t better or worse. It’s treading water

In Our Opinion

Is Chautauqua County in a worse place than it was 15 years ago, as Democrats in the Chautauqua County Legislature contend? The answer to that question depends on one’s point of view. We've often said the government doesn't, by itself, attract jobs. It does, however, set the stage to attract jobs. The county is in the midst of building two industrial parks - the controversial Ripley site near I-90 and another in Sheridan. We wholeheartedly support efforts to complete public sewers around Chautauqua Lake, a costly project that will help decrease nutrients entering the lake as ...